riffipediafandomcom-20200214-history
Eternal Elysium
Eternal Elysium are a stoner metal/stoner rock power trio from Nagoya, Japan. Active since 1991 with guitarist/vocalist Yukito Okazaki as the sole original member, Eternal Elysium has built a reputation as one of Japan's longest-standing stoner acts. The band's lyrics and themes deviate into spiritual concepts and stoner culture as a whole. Since their formation in August 1991, Okazaki's trio has released six studio albums amidst a host of other releases and has managed to tour all over the world. Though largely performing in Japan and Europe the band had toured the United States on a few occasions when a working relationship with MeteorCity Records was established for a time. History Doomsday Recitation: Beginnings and Faithful (1991 - 1998) Eternal Elysium was founded by Yukito Okazaki, Atsutoshi Tachimoto and Jiro Murakami in August 1991. Following the break-up of the NWOBHM-influenced Ran-Ja in the Spring of 1991, Okazaki and Tachimoto opted to begin a new band blending British heavy metal with Japanese musical scale and the added element of doom metal. Murakami would quickly join as the band would release a demo in October 1992 and finish their first recorded studio album by February 1993. The band would tour Japan for the first time that March, with Tachimoto and Murakami leaving by the end of the month. With Okazaki as the sole original member he would keep the band active and negotiate with various labels on releasing this debut album, with German label Black Mark Production taking up the offer. In January 1994 Jun Kawasaki and Yasuhiro Okada would join as the new rhythm section. However by March 1995 following a tour of Japan Kawasaki and Okada would both leave the group along with Black Mark falling out of the deal on releasing the debut album. While Okazaki would briefly work with other bands his style would shift back to heavy rock and he'd choose to keep Eternal Elysium going. Notably at the end of 1995, Eternal Elysium would find two labels to release the debut album. Finally in May 1996, Faithful would be released via Eclipse Records and Cornucopia Records. Bassist Eiichi Okuyama and drummer Takashi Kuroda would join the group. The band would make plans to tour that September in support of the album's official release but Okazaki would fall ill thus forcing cancellation. The band's operations would resume in February 1997 with the band being invoved in a series of summer events, leading to a trilogy of live demos known as The Spiral Conclusion. This lineup would be the most stable for a number of years, also recording a host of compilation tracks (January 1998's Doomsday Recitation, December 1998's At The Mountains of Madness and 1998's Survive List). In 1999 the band would get offers to record songs for MeteorCity Records' I Am Vengeance soundtrack and Black Widow Records' Black Widow tribute.Eternal Elysium Official Page via Wayback Machine Movements and Vibes: The MeteorCity Years (1999 - 2003) More recording sessions from Eternal Elysium would begin in February and April 1999, including a MeteorCity Records tribute to Iron Maiden (Released February 2000) and songs for the band's second studio album. That May the band would begin to negotiate with MeteorCity, leading to the group getting signed with the label that summer. Eternal Elysium's second studio album Spiritualized D would be released in April 2000 to positive reception in the stoner circles. Around the time of the album's release Okuyama would leave the group due to personal issues. Toshiaki Umemura (aka Zion) would join the group in May 2000 and the new trio would record a host of covers. However this lineup would be short-lived with Kuroda leaving in February 2001. Rio Okuya would join the group on drums as the trio began work on a third studio album from May to November. The band's first gig with this lineup would be on 30 June 2001 in Tokyo. The band would get a second drummer, a New Zealand resident known as Tom Huskinson, to record a track. In November 2001 after recording sessions would finish, Okuya would leave the group with Huskinson taking over as the full-time drummer. Eternal Elysium's third studio album Share would be released via MeteorCity Records on 25 February 2002 to positive acclaim. With worldwide distribution (Century Media in Europe and Revolver in the United States) along with being signed to MeteorCity, the trio would tour the United States for the first time. In support of Share and performing alongside Witch Mountain the trio would play in thirteen cities (Including an appearance at Stoner Hands of Doom). With the tour being a success the trio would begin work on a split CD with Japanese space rock band Of The Spacistor, working with hardcore drummer Antonio Ishikawa (Formerly of the band MUGA). However after the recordings of the split CD, Toshiaki Umemura would leave the group citing a desire to play guitar and sing in other groups. Ishikawa also took over as the new drummer as Tom Huskinson moved back to New Zealand. With a fill-in bassist in Mitsuru Kondo the band would perform two gigs that summer. The Split CD with Of The Spacistor would drop on 20 October 2003 via Cornucopia Records. The band also announced that a new bassist in Tana Huogo would be moving from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Nagoya to join the band.Eternal Elysium via Wayback Machine In a 2009 interview with Doom Mantia, Huogo explains her story of moving to Japan and joining Eternal Elysium: The band would close out 2003 with a New Years Eve gig in Nagoya, the first official show with the lineup of Okazaki, Ishikawa and Huogo as a new era of Eternal Elysium would begin. Agent of Doom: Searching Low & High and Within The Triad (2004 - 2010) With a stable lineup the trio would begin playing more shows in Japan, frequently with the likes of Church of Misery, Boris and Greenmachine. Eventually the band would sign with DiwPhalanx amidst working on a fourth studio album, working on it from February to May 2005. Searching Low & High would be released in July 2005 to positive reception, the band touring around the record's release through North America and a Japanese tour with Nebula. The next two years would see more material recorded and working with Acid King and Black Cobra, alternating tours of the US and Japan, also releasing a split CD with the latter band on DiwPhalanx. 2007 would also see the formation of the Doom Age Festival via Leaf Hound Records, leading Eternal Elysium to perform with the likes of Orange Sunshine, Electric Wizard, Witchcraft and Revelation among other doom heroes. Notably the split CD tracks with Black Cobra would be re-released as a 10" entitled Mysterious Views in Stone Garden with a bonus track. On 15 October 2008 Eternal Elysium would appear on a compilation entitled Life Conception, unveiling a new song entitled "Agent of Doom" as a teaser for the next studio album. Within The Triad would be released in August 2009 via DiwPhalanx, the trio touring North America and Japan in support of the album with Kylesa, Birushinah and Black Cobra. The trio would support Saviours on their first Japanese tour and do a full tour of Europe for the first time with Place of Skulls that fall. Within The Triad would be reissued on vinyl and CD that November with a host of bonus tracks. In a 2010 interview with Doom Mantia, Okazaki would speak about the band's first ever tour of Europe, complications with Japan and the makings of Within The Triad. Highflyer and Resonance of Shadows (2011 - Present) Despite lengthy gaps between studio albums the group maintained a busy show schedule and recording sessions, notably in 2011 performing at the 30th anniversary of the Huck Finn venue and a short tour of Japan in November 2011 to support a vinyl reissue of Searching Low & High via Hydro-Phonic Records. 2012 would see them supporting Nails and Earth on Japanese tours along with other shows. Notably the band would release a split with SardoniS on 4 October 2012 with both bands touring in support of the split. Eternal Elysium would also compose a theme song for Shinya Ishikawa (All Japan Pro Wrestling) and release an EP of this Highflyer on 24 October 2012. Through the next few years the band would tour Australia for the first time in 2014 with The Shrine and then tour Japan with Earthless the next year. On 15 June 2016 Eternal Elysium would release their sixth studio album Resonance of Shadows, attaining positive critical acclaim from the likes of The ObeliskResonance of Shadows review via the Obelisk and Robust FellowResonance of Shadows review via Robust Fellow among others. Touring of Japan would follow in support of the new album. In a 2016 interview with Outlaws of The Sun, Ukazaki would explain the process in making the album and performing songs in his native Japanese rather than English: Eternal Elysium would remain active in Japan through 2016 and 2017, performing often in Japan for special marquee doom events or venue anniversaries such as Earthdom. However the band saw a major change in 2018. Following two live performances in February, longtime drummer Antonio Ishikawa would part ways after fifteen years with the band. Eternal Elysium managed to secure a live drummer in Katagiri (nibs) for a 15 October performance and the band's first ever shows in China. Huogo and Okazaki intend to keep the band going with a new drummer in 2019. Discography Studio Albums * Faithful (1996, Cornucopia Records; Eclipse Records) * Spiritualized D (2000, MeteorCity Records) * Share (2002, MeteorCity Records) * Searching Low & High (2005, DiskUnion) * Within The Triad (2009, DiwPhalanx) * Resonance of Shadows (2016, Cornucopia Records) Misc. Releases * 1992 Demo (1992, Self-Released) * The Spiral Conclusion 1, 2, 3 (Live Demos) (1997, Self-Released) * Doomsday Recitation (Split with Church of Misery, Berenice, Millarca) (1998, Cornucopia Records) * Eternal Elysium / Of The Spacistor (Split with Of The Spacistor) (2003, Cornucopia Records) * Wizard's Convention (Split DVD with Boris, Greenmachine, Church of Misery) (2005, DiwPhalanx) * Eternal Elysium / Black Cobra (Split with Black Cobra) (2007, DiwPhalanx) * Mysterious Views in Stone Garden (EP) (2008, Electric Earth) * Ascending Circulation (Split with Sardonis) (2012, Hammerheart) * Highflyer (EP) (2012, Cornucopia Records) Members Current Lineup * Yukito Okazaki - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals (August 1991 - Present) * Tana Haugo - Bass, Vocals (November 2003 - Present) * Katagiri - Live Drums (2018 - Present) Past Members * Atsutoshi Tachimoto - Bass (August 1991 - March 1993) * Jun Kawasaki - Bass (January 1994 - March 1995) * Eiichi Okuyama - Bass (May 1996 - May 2000) * Toshiaki Umemura aka Zion - Bass (May 2000 - June 2003) * Mitsuru Kondo - Bass (July 2003 - October 2003) * Jiro Murakami - Drums (August 1991 - March 1993) * Yasuhiro Okada - Drums (January 1994 - March 1995) * Takashi Kuroda - Drums (May 1996 - February 2001) * Rio Okuya - Drums (April 2001 - September 2001) * Tom Huskinson - Drums (November 2001 - December 2002) * Antonio Ishikawa - Drums (January 2003 - February 2018) List of Known Tours * Faithful Japan Tour (1993) * 1995 Japan Tour (1995) * September 1996 Japan Tour (1996; Canceled) * Share North American Tour 2002 (With Witch Mountain) (2002) * 2003 Shows (2003) * Searching Low & High North American Tour (2005) * Nebula 2005 Japan Tour (With Nebula) (2005) * Acid King 2006 Japan Tour (With Acid King) (2006) * Bestial September Tour (With Acid King, Black Cobra) (2006) * Doom Age Festival (With Orange Sunshine) (2007) * Feather and Stone Japan Tour (With Black Cobra) (2007) * Doom Age Festival (With Electric Wizard) (2007) * Pilgrimage Japan Tour (Select dates with Om) (2008) * Doom Age Festival (With Revelation, Church of Misery) (2008) * 2009 Japan Tour (Select dates with Birushinah, Kylesa) (2009) * Within The Triad North American Tour (With Black Cobra) (2009) * Within The Triad Japan Tour (With Black Cobra, Amber Vial depending on dates) (2009) * Accelerated Living Japan Tour (With Saviours) (2010) * As A Dog Returns European Tour (With Place of Skulls) (2010) * Eternal Elysium Japan Tour 2011 (2011) * Eternal Elysium / Sardonis Japan Tour (With Sardonis) (2012) * Eternal Elysium Australian Tour (With The Shrine) (2014) * Earthless / Eternal Elysium Japan Tour (With Earthless) (2015; originally 2014) * Eternal Elysium & Auma Japan Tour (With Auma) (2015) * Triad in Black Summer Confusion (With Greenmachine, Nepenthes) (2016) * Resonance in Shikoku (With Ithaqua, Spacegrinder, Oldemada) (2016) * Eternal Elysium China Tour 2018 (With Alpaca) (2018) External Links *Gig History 2002 - 2018 *Gig History 2001 - 2002 *Archived Homepage circa 2000 *July 2000 News *News 2000 - 2003 *Archived Release Page *2017 Interview via Outlaws of The Sun *Eternal Elysium Sardonis Split Review via The Sludgelord *2002 Interview via Cosmic Lava *Searching Low and High Review via The Obelisk *Searching Low and High review via Outlaws of The Sun *Share Review via Sea of Tranquility *Split CD review via The Sleeping Shaman *Highflyer Review References Category:Band Category:Japan Category:Stoner Metal Category:Stoner Rock Category:Eternal Elysium Category:MeteorCity Records Category:DiwPhalanx